When applying reflex therapeutics, various active points on a human body are stimulated, which are said to be acupuncture points. The stimulation of these acupuncture points may be carried out by applying needles, electric current, pressure, ultra-sound, heat or light.
There are hitherto known devices for the stimulation of these points by means of sources of coherent light--lasers, whether the are gas lasers or semi-conductor lasers.
A drawback of this solution resides especially in its high costs. The coherence of radiation is not necessary for the stimulation of acupuncture points.
There is also known the stimulation of acupuncture points by means of an incandescent lamp the light from which is focused on the surface of the skin corresponding to the effective surface of an acupuncture points.
A drawback of this solution resides in the considerable heating of the acupuncture point by the source of non-monochromatic light, so that in this case it does not produce a proper photostimulation, but represents a combination of a light stimulation with a heat stimulation which may cause pain.
There is also known the localization of acupuncture points by measuring their electrical impedance, which is considerably lower than the impedance of adjacent areas of the skin.
To locate acupuncture points, one usually applies a finding or locating metal electrode which is connected to an effective evaluating means, usually in the form of an impedance measuring instrument.
A drawback of this solution resides in the fact that it is necessary at first to determine the acupuncture point by means of a finding or locating electrode, then to mark the point, and finally, by means of another applicator provided with a source of light, to stimulate the thus found acupuncture point.
There is also known a device which employs a laser light as a stimulation source. Radiation is sent to the application spot through a flexible light guide cable, which passes into an electrode for the locating of finding of an acupuncture point.
A drawback of this solution resides in the considerable losses of the light output in the spot of the inlet of the radiation into the light guide cable.